Fans of the Pet Shop Boys can breathe a sigh of relief after frontman Neil Tennant was confirmed to be alive and well – contrary to rumours on Twitter that he was critically ill in hospital.

Reports of his hospitalisation – and in some case even death – began circulating on the social network on Friday evening, suggesting that Tennant had been seriously injured and suffered heart failure following a car crash in Germany.

However a spokesperson for the duo, which consists of Tennant and Chris Lowe, has now confirmed that the rumours simply aren’t true.

‘Stories reporting that Neil has been seriously injured are a hoax,’ the band’s official Twitter account said while their publicist later added: ‘He is alive and well. Read their Twitter. He wasn’t even in Germany.’

Meanwhile a somewhat bemused-sounding Tennant later commented that reports of his death – or at the very least hospitalisation – had been greatly exaggerated.

‘I was enjoying the extraordinary Pina Bausch dance company at Sadler’s Wells!’ the 59-year-old told Spin Magazine, adding: ‘Thanks to Spin for clarifying that I was the victim of a sick hoax.’

Tennant is the latest in a long line of celebrities to become the subject of Twitter hoaxes, with the likes of Megan Fox, Chloe Moretz, Jackie Chan and Justin Bieber among those ‘killed off’ by the site last year.